Thursday, January 30, 2014 - BRUNEI’S economic output tumbled 9.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2013 due to a significant decline in the performance of both the oil and gas sector, and industry.

During the quarter, the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at $4.66 billion at current prices, data from the Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE) show. This was a decline of almost two digits from the $5.16 billion recorded in the same period of 2012.

The department in its press statment did not say what sector caused the economic decline in the third quarter of last year.

However, statistics released by the JPKE show that the oil and gas sector’s economic performance in the quarter decreased 11.7 per cent year on year.

The industrial sector, weighed down heavily by a 17.2 per cent slump in mining, posted a year-on-year decrease of 9.7 per cent.

If
you just take a glance at these stamps from my collection, you would
not have noticed anything different. Just ordinary used Brunei stamps.
They are old though. The 1 cent was issued in 1908 and the 5 cent was
issued in 1916.

Look closely. Look at the postmarks.

Now
you can see. The 5 cent stamp was postmarked Labuan on 9 November 1922.
The 1 cent was postmarked Kingstown on 6 September 1910. You all know
where Labuan is. Kingstown? That's somewhere in the West Indies.

Theory?
Probably the stamps when affixed to the envelope escaped from being
postmarked in Brunei but when it landed in Labuan, the postmaster there
affixed the cancellation so that the stamp can not be used. Similarly
with the Kingstown postmark. The other interesting bit was that someone
in Brunei wrote a letter to someone in Kingstown. If the stamp can talk,
what interesting tales can it have.

This 1749 map shows Brunei (circled red) as Borneo to differentiate it from the Island of Borneo (Isle de Borneo). Brunei was generally known as Proper Borneo in many maps around those periods. The more the mappers know of a place, the more detailed the maps are for that particular place. Hence Borneo is properly shown together with Labuan Island just off the coast of Brunei. Tanjung Baram was known but someone would have to tell me what happened to Bacasa or Canciran both very near Brunei in this map.

Story by James KonPosted date: January 07, 2014 In: Headline, National

THE Government of Brunei Darussalam is committed to ensuring that children-related issues are given high priority in the national agenda because they are important assets of the nation, some of whom will become future leaders. Several policies and programmes are in place to promote and protect the rights and well-being of children in the country.

Brunei’s high commitment to protecting the nation’s children was highlighted by Haji Mohd Rozan bin Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yunos, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports in a speech at the opening of the Asean Child Protection Training Programme held at Star Lodge Hotel yesterday morning.

Hj Mohd Rozan, who is also Head of the Brunei Darussalam Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development, outlined some of the key policies and programmes to help children in their development and welfare.

PARENTS were urged to take formal procedures in adopting children to deter mistreatment and neglect, following the recent death of a three-year-old toddler at the hands of her adoptive parents.

Children adopted without the involvement of relevant authorities are more vulnerable to mistreatment and neglect, as such cases remain unreported, said Hj Mohd Rozan Dato Paduka Hj Mohd Yunos, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS).

Hj Mohd Rozan drew attention to a high-profile court case involving a married couple, Muhd Firdaus Hj Hamid and Masnani Hj Masri, found guilty of fatally abusing their young adopted daughter within a few days of her informal adoption last September.

“The difficulty is that sometimes nobody knows about the abuse until it’s too late,” said the permanent secretary.

He added that measures in formal adoption procedures were in place to detect child mistreatment a…

I bought the following photograph quite a while ago. What attracted me was that these four people took a photo in front of a road Jalan Masjid. This road does not exist anymore but if memory serves me correctly and my theory is correct, this road should be the current Jalan Elizabeth II in front of the General Post Office. The mosque known as Masjid Kajang was built somewhere at the carpark area of today's TAIB Headquarters in Bandar Seri Begawan.